New Zealand

Wine producers in New Zealand carved a niche for sauvignon blanc in the 1990s in an over-the-top style so distinctive that sauvignon blanc wines from California were sometimes described as “New Zealand-like” and, on the other hand, sauvignon blancs from New Zealand that did not conform to type were dubbed “not too New Zealandish.” What’s the model? It generally involved penetrating scents of grapefruit, lime peel, green bean and what people called “cat pee” in a tart, zesty, spicy package that could feel more like a tonic for clearing the sinuses than a wine for sipping. Our Wine of the Day for this post is a definitely identifiable sauvignon blanc from New Zealand that offers exuberance and frank immediacy tempered by a bit of restraint. The Celsius 13 Sauvignon Blanc 2015, Marlborough, made all in stainless steel, offers a very pale straw gold color and exhilarating aromas of grapefruit and pea-shoot, celery seed and caraway, lime peel and lilac, with back-notes of talc and jasmine. Acid provides a real snap of tart crispness in the mouth, where flavors tend toward tangerine, lemon and lime leaf. A sleek, lithe texture keeps the energy flowing into a deep well of limestone and flint. Did I say, “a bit of restraint”? Well, OK, maybe it’s really “a sliver of restraint, a speck, an iota.” In any case, this is a charming, uttering drinkable wine that should provide great service as the temps go up and Spring and then Summer drift upon us. 12.5 percent alcohol. Celsius 13 is a label of The Wine Group, owner of such popular brands as Cupcake, Chloe, Concannon and Franzia. Very Good+. About $17.

In some ways, it’s more fun to compile the “25 Great Wine Bargains” than it is to fret over the “50 Great Wines.” This present list of wines priced at $20 and under offers more geographical and varietal diversity, as well as appealing to people — most of the wine-drinkers on the face of the earth — would would rather pay $15 for a bottle of excellent wine than $150 for a bottle of exceptional wine. What’s particularly pleasing about today’s roster is that of the 25 wines included, all but two rate Excellent. The truth is that wines don’t have to be high-priced to be thoughtfully and precisely made or to embody all the characteristics of a terrific drink. An excellent sauvignon blanc for $11? Who would pass that up? These 25 Great Wine Bargains are cause for celebration, so have at it. Remember, though, that not all wines are available in every market. For bottles that can’t be found in your local retail stores, a search on the Internet may be helpful. Enjoy!

We tend to know when a wine is great from the first sniff and taste, because it possesses that ineffable yet very real quality called charisma. Renewed sniffing and tasting confirm that assessment, while adding depth and character. These factors hold true whether a wine costs $19 or $350, the range represented in today’s 2015 edition of the annual “50 Great Wines” post. I wouldn’t pay $350 for a bottle of wine — though apparently some people would — but I appreciate the occasional opportunity to encounter one. Of the wines on today’s roster, 18 rate Exceptional and 32 rate Excellent. Often the dividing line between Excellent and Exceptional is fine indeed, with permutations and intimations running silent and deep in each direction, but since my inclination is toward distinctions, rankings and hierarchies — that’s what graduate school will do for you — I always include a rating for each wine reviewed on BTYH. On the other hand, I refuse to employ the famous 100-point system; I would rather leave room for some ambiguity and imagination.

A great wine satisfies every point of interest and essence that we desire from a wine, exuding a feeling of utter completion and comprehension. Each wine accomplishes this purpose in a different way, of course, and to varying degrees, necessitating different responses. Some of these wines I admire, gravely and humbly; others, I adore rather shamelessly. The ultimate test, I think, is that when we drink a bottle of great wine, our conclusion is thus: “I wouldn’t want it to be anything other than this,” a sentiment we might also share with works of art and love affairs.

Today’s roster is presented alphabetically. Where a wine is a blend of grapes, I include the percentages that compose the blend. I also mention the case production for wines released in limited quantities, of which many on this list, not surprisingly, are. I do not include alcohol levels or names of importers or technical, geographical or historical date That sort of information is available in the reviews. These wines were selected from examples that I wrote about during 2015. The preponderance were samples for review, for which I thank the wineries, importers and marketing people who sent them.

The house of Diebolt-Vallois is fairly young for Champagne. Though the Vallois family had been raising vines in the village of Cuis since the 15th Century — think of the heritage that implies! — and the Diebolt family had been living in the village of Cramant since the end of the 19th century, it was only in 1978 that Jacques Diebolt and Nadia Vallois launched the estate that bears their combined names. Their children, Arnaud and Isabelle, work with the parents and take an increasingly active role in running the estate. The product under consideration today (an online purchase) is the non-vintage Diebolt-Vallois Prestige Brut, actually a blanc de blancs, being composed of 100 percent chardonnay grapes. Not mentioned on the label is the fact that all the grapes derive from Grand Cru-ranked villages in Champagne’s Cote des Blancs region. Gosh, this is a beautifully wrought Champagne. The color is ultra pale gold, like platinum blond, set aglow within by the constant shimmer of tiny frothing bubbles. It’s a chiseled Champagne of elegant cheekbones and slim wrists, yet possessing the strength to carry a load of limestone and chalk from first sniff to final sip; you feel the strata of minerals below the vineyards with each encounter. Bare hints of roasted lemon, apple skin, spiced pear and lime peel flesh out its character and appeal, lending beguiling fragrance and lingering but elusive taste. It’s perfectly balanced on the palate, its dense, talc-like mineral nature riven by pinpoint crystalline acidity. I could drink this all day and night, and sort of did. 12.5 percent alcohol. Excellent. Look for prices nationally from $50 to $70.

Petit Pois Corp T/A Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, N.J.
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Here’s an interesting entry for this series, a first sparkling wine from New Zealand. Kim Crawford founded his eponymous winery in 1996 and sold it to Canadian beverage giant Vincor in 2003. That concern in turn was acquired by Constellation Brands in 2006. Today we look at the Kim Crawford Small Parcels Methode Traditionelle Fizz 2009, Marlborough, a blend of 60 percent pinot noir and 40 percent chardonnay. (Winemaker was Anthony Walkenhorst.) This is a delightful sparkling wine, clean, fresh and bright. The color is pale gold, and the tiny bubbles stream upward in a generous swirl. Notes of toasted cinnamon bread and brioche are buoys to hints of roasted lemon, spiced pear and a touch of slightly caramelized tropical fruit. The wine is quite dry and boasts an exquisite structure of oyster shell and limestone that increases its influence through a finish that’s poignant in its delicacy and transparency. Another sparkler with fine bones and interior power. 12 percent alcohol. Drink through 2017 to ’19. Very Good+. About $35.

On November 15, I posted a series of reviews about 18 sauvignon blanc wines made in California (here). Today, it’s the turn of 15 sauvignon blancs from other parts of the world: France, New Zealand, Chile and Italy. There’s much to like here, especially if you’re fond of the French styles of the Loire Valley and Bordeaux, but there’s a big surprise from northeastern Italy at a bargain price too. As usual, in the Weekend Wine Notes, I eschew technical, historical and geographical data in favor of quick incisive mentions designed to pique the interest and whet the palate. Most of these wines were samples for review; a few were tasted at distributors’ trade events.

The color of the Mud House Pinot Noir 2013, from New Zealand’s Marlborough region, is such a lovely, limpid, transparent ruby hue that you could be forgiven for wanting just to gaze upon it for a while, as one might be mesmerized by a glass of red wine in a Dutch still-life painting. Take a sniff, though, to encounter the wine’s winsome notes of cloves and sassafras, red cherry and raspberry, slightly roughened by touches of briery-brambly elements. This pinot noir ages briefly in a combination of French oak barriques and stainless steel tanks, so it retains appealing freshness as well as a light cloak of spicy wood influence. The wine’s delicate nature meshes with its marked purity and intensity of character, in a balance that posits bright acidity with delicious red fruit flavors and a mere hint of dusty tannic resonance. A real treat. Winemaker was Nadine Worley. Drink now through 2016 into 2017. Very Good+. About $17.

Imported by Accolade Wines North America, Napa, Calif. A sample for review.

If a winery is named Mt. Beautiful, then the wines had better be pretty damned beautiful themselves. No fear! The Mt. Beautiful Pinot Gris 2014, from New Zealand’s North Canterbury region, is as gorgeous as a wine could be while still maintaining the requisite backbone for some healthy structure. This is a fairly new estate, offering its first wines from 2007. The concentration, appropriate for New Zealand, is on white wines plus pinot noir. Winemaker is Sam Weaver. The Mt. Beautiful Pinot Gris 2014, North Canterbury, was made in a combination of old oak barrels and stainless steel. The result is a pale straw-gold wine whose bright aromas of lime peel, jasmine and gardenia, peach and apple skin, straw, heather and mint go beyond seductive to a state of delirious amplitude. This pinot gris is sprightly on the palate, displaying taut, lithe energy and generous proportions in support of delicious spicy stone-fruit flavors with a crisp citrus edge; a pleasingly talc-like texture is riven by a scintillating limestone element. 14.5 percent alcohol. Production was 1,500 cases. Drink this extraordinarily beautiful pinot gris through 2017. Exceptional. About $19, a Raving Great Value.

Nobilo Wines qualifies as a pioneer winery in New Zealand, being founded in 1943, a mere blip in time for many estates in Europe. Better late than never, right! Anyway, the Icon label is Nobilo’s top designation, and today I look at the Nobilo Icon Pinot Noir 2013, Marlborough. The wine is a blend of grapes from three estate vineyards lying at different altitudes on different types of soil. It aged 10 months in French oak, 20 percent new barrels. The color is dark ruby in the center shading to a transparent rim; very attractive aromas of raspberries, cloves, rhubarb and smoked black cherries are twined with fairly profound notes of loam and underbrush, while a few minutes in the glass deepen the spicy element. This pinot noir is quite dry, edging toward finely-sifted dusty tannins, but it retains a feeling of juicy ripeness around the circumference, as well as offering a supple and satiny texture. It trades principally, however, on the earthy aspect, as it gathers its forces of mushrooms, briers and brambles, a touch of some rooty tea and dollops of graphite for a cool, slightly chiseled finish. 13 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2018 to 2020 with grilled lamb or veal chops. In some degree, this pinot noir lacks the balancing effect of grace and elegance so essential to the grape, but it offers an interesting and satisfying exploration of the dark side. Excellent. About $20, representing Good Value.

Fans of sauvignon blanc wines from New Zealand will love this snappy streamlined number. Made all in stainless steel, the Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Marlborough, opens with an exuberant burst of grapefruit, gooseberry, lime peel and pea shoot; it’s fairly grassy and leafy and displays notes of fig and dried thyme. The texture is lithe and lively, and the wine flows across the palate in a crisp zippy stream of melon, grapefruit and mango. It’s all a bit exotic and pretty darned tasty and obviously produced for immediate enjoyment as an aperitif or to accompany a plateful of grilled shrimp or fish tacos. Don’t worry yer pointy little head about it; just gulp it down, especially in these hot humid days. 12.5 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $12 to $14.

So, the weather is getting definitely warmer over much of the United States of America, and millions of consumers are searching for delicious and juicy, crisp and lively wines to match the season of porch, patio, pool and picnic. Guess what? I have a candidate for such a position. It’s the Giesen Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2014, from New Zealand’s Marlborough region. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Oh, right, another one of those flamboyant grapefruit-gooseberry-celery seed-lime peel New Zealand sauvignon blancs that gets up in your nose and tickles and teases your delicate scent organs so you almost sneeze.” Well, allow me to say that while the Giesen Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2014 certainly displays some of those elements, they are subdued in nature, balanced and integrated with a gingery-jasmine character, scintillating acidity and a prominent edge of limestone minerality. Quite dry, yes, but sunny, leafy, endowed with intriguing thyme-clove notes and a sprightly finish. 12.5 percent alcohol. You can drink it with almost anything or with nothing. Very Good+. About $15, making it Bargain Status.